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Since its emergence in the 1970s, Neopaganism (Neuheidentum) in German-speaking Europe has diversified into a wide array of traditions, particularly during the New Age boom of the 1980s.
Schmid (2006) distinguishes four main currents:
Neopaganism in Germany and Austria has been strongly influenced by the occultist Germanic mysticism pioneered by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels in the 1890 to 1930 period. A Guido von List Society was founded 1908. Other early groups influenced by List were the Deutschgläubige Gemeinschaft (1911), the Germanenorden (1912) and the Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft (1907).
The contemporary term Deutschgläubig for these movements may be translated as either "German Faith", "Teutonic Faith" or in the more archaic usage of Deutsch as "folk belief". Several of these groups came together in 1933 forming an Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Deutschen Glaubensbewegung. There was however no unified take on the contents of a Deutschgläubig religiosity, and approaches varied from a "national Christianity" based on the Arianism of the Goths, German mysticism, Humanism and free thought, as well as racialist ideas of a native Nordic or Aryan religion. The radical free-thinking tendency combined with the Nordicist one to the effect of pronounced hostility towards Christianity and the Church. Krause et al. (1977:557) distinguish four basic types subsumed under Deutschgläubig:
The Thule Society originated as an offshoot of the Germanenorden in 1917, and notoriously became associated with the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei in 1919 and thus involved in the formative phase of the Nazi Party. By the rise of the Third Reich in 1933, the Thule society had been dissolved, and esoteric organisations (including völkisch occultists) were suppressed by the Nazi regime, many closed down by anti-Masonic legislation in 1935. Nevertheless, some elements of Germanic mysticism found reflection in the symbolism employed by the Nazis, mostly due to Heinrich Himmler's interest in the occult and sponsorship of the Austrian Ariosophist Karl Wiligut. As early as 1940, the occult scholar and folklorist Lewis Spence identified a neopagan undercurrent in Nazism, [1] for which he largely blamed Alfred Rosenberg, and which he equated with "satanism". [2] This notion of a Nazi occultism has been relativized as superficial. Heinz Höhne, an authority on the SS, observes that "Himmler's neo-pagan customs remained primarily a paper exercise". [3] In Hamburg which was considered a stronghold, only 0.49% of the inhabitants identified as belonging to the neopagan faith movement (in 1937). [4]
With the fall of the Third Reich, the Deutschgläubig movement was finished, appearing suspect at least during the period of denazification (Krause 1977:558). But völkisch religiosity began to re-surface as early as 1951 with the Artgemeinschaft and the Deutsche Unitarier .
Neopaganism saw a revival in the 1970s, partly by US influence, [5] partly by the revival of pre-war occultist societies. The Armanenorden was re-established in 1976.
The Heidnische Gemeinschaft (HG; "Heathen Community") was founded in 1985 by Géza von Neményi, formerly of the Armanenorder, and in contrast to that movement explicitly distances itself from extreme-right ideas. Members are urged to forgo racial and fascist ideals, to have a positive and respectful attitude towards the earth and nature, to participate in democracy instead of aiming for totalitarianism, to promote equality of the sexes, and to worship the gods whose existence underlies cultural tradition. [6]
The 1980s were dominated by the New Age movement, giving rise to a significant neopagan movement detached in origin from the völkisch or deutschgläubig history of German neopaganism. Wicca and the Goddess movement begins to take hold in German feminist subculture in this period, [7] e.g. with Heide Göttner-Abendroth, whose "International Academy for Modern Matriarchal Studies and Matriarchal Spirituality" (HAGIA) was founded in 1986. The German Wicca movement is dominated by the US feminist currents of Dianic Wicca and the Reclaiming community advocating radical environmentalism (REMID).
A renewed interest in Germanic neopaganism or Asatru in particular becomes apparent in the later 1990s, based on inspiration from the English-speaking world rather than historical deutschgläubig groups, with the foundation of the Rabenclan (1994) and of a German chapter of Odinic Rite in 1995, followed by Nornirs Ætt in 1997 and the Eldaring as a chapter of the US The Troth in 2000.
Fahrenkrog's Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft was reactivated in 1991 by Géza von Neményi, who had received the organization's archives from Dessel as the result of a hostile split of the Heidnische Gemeinschaft, which von Neményi had founded in 1985. Von Neményi had been a member of the board of the Green Party in Berlin until 1985, when he was expelled together with his brother for alleged connections to the neo-Nazi milieu, an accusation which both men denied. [8] Subsequently, the GGG successfully sued the Artgemeinschaft , which also claimed to be the legal successor of Fahrenkrog's organization.
However, in 1995 the GGG denied being a continuation of Fahrenkrog's organization. In 1997, the GGG again claimed to have been founded in 1907. Since the foundation/reactivation of GGG, von Neményi has claimed the title of Allsherjargode (an Icelandic title translating approximately to "high priest") and position of a spiritual leader, a claim rejected and mocked by most other neopagan groups in Germany. [9]
Within Germanic neopaganism in Germany in particular, debate on neopaganism and neo-Nazism is very prominent and controversial. The large majority of German neopagans vehemently renounce all right extremist associations, especially since a 1996 case of a Sauerland neo-Nazi who had confessed to four murders which he claimed were inspired by the command of Odin. [10] The controversy is kept alive because there remain a number of neo-Nazi or far-right neopagan groups, with Jürgen Rieger's Artgemeinschaft (Rieger died 2009) notoriously domain squatting asatru.de since 1999. [11]
The Rabenclan and Nornirs Ætt groups were particularly prominent in this respect in the 1990s, with their anti-racist "Ariosophy project" actively denouncing right extremists within the German neopagan movement. Other groups, like the Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft do not take a clear position with regard to völkisch or New Right schools of thoughts. The Eldaring avoids taking any political stance and rejects the "folkish" vs. "universalist" division as inapplicable.
The Verein für germanisches Heidentum (VfGH), formerly "Odinic Rite Deutschland" has been associated with the folkish Odinic Rite in Britain from 1995, but later severed organisational ties and was renamed to its present name in 2006. The "folkish" concept of Metagenetics advocated in US Asatru by Stephen McNallen was introduced into German discourse by Volker "Stilkam" Wagner of Odinic Rite Deutschland, a position harshly attacked by the Rabenclan as völkisch or New Right ideology.
Celtic neopaganism and neo-Druidism is particularly popular in Austria, by virtue of Austria being the location of the Proto-Celtic Hallstatt culture. The Keltendorf in Diex, Kärnten combines archaeological reconstruction with "European geomancy". The Europäisch Keltische Gemeinschaft has been active since 1998.
The Pagan Federation has chapters in Austria and Germany. There is no organized neopagan group in Switzerland, the Eldaring catering also to Swiss and Austrian members. A loose network centered around interest in Alpine paganism has been active in Switzerland under the name Firner Situ (the Old High German translation of Forn Sed) since 2006.
Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or a family of religions which is influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Africa and the Near East. Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse and as a result, they do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or texts. Scholars of religion may characterise these traditions as new religious movements. Some academics who study the phenomenon treat it as a movement that is divided into different religions while others characterize it as a single religion of which different pagan faiths are denominations.
The Völkisch movement was a German ethno-nationalist movement active from the late 19th century through to the Nazi era, with remnants in the Federal Republic of Germany afterwards. Erected on the idea of "blood and soil", inspired by the one-body-metaphor, and by the idea of naturally grown communities in unity, it was characterized by organicism, racialism, populism, agrarianism, romantic nationalism and – as a consequence of a growing exclusive and ethnic connotation – by antisemitism from the 1900s onward. Völkisch nationalists generally considered the Jews to be an "alien people" who belonged to a different Volk from the Germans.
The Odinic Rite (OR) is a reconstructionist religious organisation named after the god Odin. It conceives itself as a neo-völkisch Heathen movement concerned with Germanic paganism, mythology, folklore, and runes. As a white supremacist organization, the Odinic Rite limits membership to white individuals, holding the belief in Heathenry as the ancestral religion of the Indo-European race.
Armanism and Ariosophy are esoteric ideological systems that were largely developed by Guido von List and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels respectively, in Austria between 1890 and 1930. The term 'Ariosophy', which means the wisdom of the Aryans, was invented by Lanz von Liebenfels in 1915, and during the 1920s, it became the name of his doctrine. For research on the topic, such as Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's book The Occult Roots of Nazism, the term 'Ariosophy' is generically used to describe the Aryan/esoteric theories which constituted a subset of the 'Völkische Bewegung'. This broader use of the word is retrospective and it was not generally current among the esotericists themselves. List actually called his doctrine 'Armanism', while Lanz used the terms 'Theozoology' and 'Ario-Christianity' before the First World War.
Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th century, its practitioners model it on the pre-Christian religions adhered to by the Germanic peoples of the Iron Age and Early Middle Ages. In an attempt to reconstruct these past belief systems, Heathenry uses surviving historical, archaeological, and folkloric evidence as a basis, although approaches to this material vary considerably.
The Artgemeinschaft Germanic Faith Community is a German Neopagan and Neo-Nazi organization founded in 1951 by Wilhelm Kusserow, a former member of the SS. In 1983, it merged with the Nordungen. From 1989 to 2009, it was headed by Jürgen Rieger.
The Armanen-Orden was founded as a revival of the Ariosophical Guido von List Society by German occultist Adolf Schleipfer and his then-wife Sigrun von Schlichting.
The European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) is an organisation for cooperation among associations that promote the ethnic religions of Europe. The primary goal of the ECER is the strengthening of pre-Christian religious traditions of Europe, emphasizing and fostering their ties with modern pagan movements.
Árpád von Nahodyl is a German writer, neopagan activist and politician. His books on pagan subjects are published under the pseudonym Géza von Neményi. Active in Germany's neopagan scene since the early 1980s, he founded the Heidnische Gemeinschaft which attracted media attention and controversy in that decade. After leaving the organization, he founded the Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft in 1991. Nahodyl has also been involved in local politics for several parties, most recently Alternative for Germany.
Ludwig Fahrenkrog was a German painter, illustrator, sculptor and writer. He was born in Rendsburg, Prussia, in 1867. He started his career as an artist in his youth, and attended the Berlin Royal Art Academy before being appointed a professor in 1913. He taught at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bremen from 1898 to 1931. He was also involved in the founding of a series of modern Pagan religious groups in the early 20th century, as part of a movement to create what its adherents referred to as a "Germanic religious community".
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Heinrich Ernst Wachler was a völkisch-neopagan and anti-semitic writer, dramatist and publicist.
Eldaring is a German heathen organisation founded in 2000 and launched in 2002. It operates as an umbrella organisation for local groups and independent practitioners.
The Verein für germanisches Heidentum, abbreviated VfGH, is a Germanic neopagan organisation in Germany. It began in 1994 as the German chapter of the British Odinic Rite and was called the Odinic Rite Deutschland. It became independent in 2004 and changed its name in 2006. Prominent people within the organisation have been Bernd Hicker, who was its first leader, and Fritz Steinbock, who has managed and influenced its religious practice.
Heathenry in the United Kingdom consists of a variety of modern pagan movements attempting to revive pre-Christian Germanic religiosities, such as that practised in the British Isles by Anglo-Saxon and Nordic peoples prior to Christianisation.
Otto Sigfrid Reuter was a German writer and organiser who was central in the neopagan current within the völkisch movement. He founded some of the earliest organisations for Germanic neopaganism, which were rooted in the racial ideologies of the völkisch movement. Reuter promoted a decentralised version of pagan practice without priests, in contrast to the hierarchically structured Germanic Faith Community of Ludwig Fahrenkrog.
Light Prayer is a painting associated with the German Youth Movement and Lebensreform concept of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It portrays a young, naked man who stands on a rock and stretches his arms toward the sky. It was created by the German painter Fidus, who from 1890 to 1938 made eleven versions in various media. In 1913, he created a postcard based on the painting that became widely spread in Germany.